CenterBook Partners LP Acquires 14,679 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 420.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,679 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $3,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FI. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,891,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,435,280,000 after acquiring an additional 218,833 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,568,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,376,482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,419 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Fiserv by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,030,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,649,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,597 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $1,406,452,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,116,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,554 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FI shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.35.

Fiserv Trading Up 7.6 %

FI stock opened at $210.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $117.61 billion, a PE ratio of 39.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $221.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $238.59.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total transaction of $10,599,750.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

About Fiserv

Fiserv, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides payments and financial services technology services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Merchant Acceptance, Financial Technology, and Payments and Network segments.